Hairstyles. We women have been forever fussing with our hair, do we not?
“Marcelling is a hair styling technique in which hot curling tongs are used to induce a curl into the hair. Its appearance was similar to that of a finger wave, but made by a quite different means.” (Wikipedia) The photos I have of my mother-in-law’s high school graduation in 1920 shows her with “marcelled” hair.
How about this hairstyle from an earlier day? Wonder what she used to keep those curls “stuck” in proper place???? No hair spray back then.
My mother used Karo syrup to put baby’s hair in place and stick a bow on the “topknot.”
Three recipes for bandoline [a glutinous hair dressing, used to keep the hair in place].
Half a pint of water, rectified spirits with an equal quantity of water three ounces, gum tragacanth one and a half drams. Add perfume, let the mixture stand for a day or two and then strain.
Simmer an ounce of quince seed in a quart of water for forty minutes, strain, cool, add a few drops of scent, and bottle, corking tightly.
Iceland moss one-fourth of an ounce, boiled in a quart of water and a little rectified spirit added, so that it will keep.
This book also has some recipes for hair pomades which variously use beef marrow, lard, castor oil, wax, olive oil, spermaceti, and perfumes
Young, J. H. (1882). Our Deportment or the Manners, Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society . Detroit, Mich: F.B. Dickerson & Co.